oops...been buzy canning aand dehydrating and picking and and and... thanks philip! and sjoerd! never got any rain except for some spit sjoerd....but....the nights are getting a bit cooler and there's always moisture on the ground in the mornings. that's helping a lot! ah, the duckies...we lost a hen the other day. not a maark on her or any sign of disease. she just died, poor thing. the others have been laying every day, but as of the hot hot temps a couple weeks ago, they are in molt now, again?! a couple are still laying, but there are feathrs everywhere in the pen and in the cabin. i guess the weather's got them and their little bodies messed up. those couple of weeks of 90 day heat so late wwere crazy. i'm hoping they'll start laying in earnest again before the winter. i need to freeze a bunch more! hubby has to dig out the pond again. it's not very deep due to them digging the sides out and silt from runnoff this past spring. also, he has to rebuild the side by the cabin. i can barely get around to the other side now due to them digging/extending the pond out. hubby even had to build me a little bridge to get to the other side...pics at eleven!
soon sjoerd! well now, my little duckies are smarter than the average bear!!! i went down to feed them today and found two eggs. it's been intermittent with finding one, maybe two, or none the last week plus. figured it was due to the molting. whelp, their cabin was not dirty, but full of feathers...when they molt they stay in their alot for protection. so, i cleneeed it out and weent to the hay bale and pulled the tarp off it and...there was a nest in the middle of it full of eggs!!! over 25! we'd been checking the nest at the bottom of the bale, but never figured they'd make a nice little path under the tarp and up inside the middle of the bale. they're such tricksters! i'm on to them now! i was so shocked, i forgot to take pics! :
Those Ducks are making a puzzle for you,..between Ducks and Hens they really do test a person,.."where is the egg". That hen that died on you,..i had that!,..what appeared to be a perfect flock at lock up ended with a dead hen next morning,..no marks,..just dropped dead and fell off the perch?.
What an amazing story about thast nesting place of the ducks. Any idea how old those eggs were in that nest? My grandparents had chickens that would go waaaaay uo on top of bails piled-high and lay their eggs. I found them whilst playing...and my grandparents had no idea that they were there. Sometimes there might be 18-20 eggs in there.
i've been going through those eggs sjoerd, and so far only a couple were bad. i test them by floating. we've been getting 2 eggs a day and today we got 3! i remember a friend gave us 3 baby banty chicks when we first moved here. ended up being 2 hens and a rooster. i remember one day finding a pile of 11 eggs under hub's tractor that had been sitting in front of the barn for a bit! they are so sneaky! weird thing the duck dying like that philip. still don't know what happened, but all are healthy. and, more pics...more peppers. forgot to take pics of the big ones, what a harvest... last of the red miracle corn... more toms... lots of big ones this year... hubby's volunteer squash plant... cukes in October???!... sunflowers... more sunflowers... hubby building a duck bridge so i won't get webbed feet... sammy and ducks watching on... ducks on bridge checking it out... hubs digging duck pond out...they filled it in pretty good with muck... sammy watching ducks in outside pen... thelma and louise through the garden fence... corner of root cellar in progress on right side. won't be finished till next year... sammy's taken to 'lifting' and dragging the logs and boards that are around the duck pond fence... after a little bit, he lays down and sleeps with the log... winter squash and carrots...think we'll leave most of the carrots in the ground with a heavy mulch this winter, and dig up as we need them... a good part of the 2011 winter squash harvest...
Well, Bunkie. You remind me of my father-in-law. He had acres of veggie gardens. What I loved in the last set of pictures, were the carrots. They are beautiful. we live in a rocky area and the carrots are deformed. I am sifting the carrot area so they will grow normal soon. Love to see all that you are doing. Barb in Pa
Hi Bunkie, lots of colour in those pictures,..and a bumper crop into the bargain,..that's a spectacular picture with the crops in those buckets,..the cover of a magazine picture. Hubby is being very considerate saving you getting webbed feet, ,..it can get VERY slippy walking where ducks waddle,.. so when you took careful steps before the bridge was built just be more careful walking on slippery wood and duck droppings,..those ducks have a lovely little oasis,..all duck requirements supplied. Sammy keeps close watch on everything that is happening,..lol at him exhausted and sleeping on the log. Do you save the Sunflower Seeds?. Something of interest,..Shucking Corn. http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=YnBF6bv4Oe4
Another great bunch of fotos, Bunky. You are really doing quite well in the harvest department. The duck pond work looks super. You guys really are busy bees. I guess that there is always something to do on a farm. Good luck with that root cellar. I wish that I had one here at home.
thanks kathyd! waretrop, we get those wtisted and stunted carrots too! theey mainly take a bit more time cleaning, but still taste good. i have three or four varieties and 5 double rows to pick from right now. philip, i know very well about the slippery duck stuff! aand loved the corn shucking video, tho, we don't have a microwave. sjoerd, isn't it amazing how much we're harvesting off such a late crop, with the cold spring and cold summer?! seems like the simple 2 and a half weeks of 90's in September made all the difference. i'm just in awe! and we still have not had a frost yet?! i still have potatoes and sweet potatoes to harvest. got a bit of a sore throat i'm 'fixing up' the last couple of days. guess i needed to slow down a bit. hard to when you're enjoying such bounty! glad you all enjoyed the pics!
My Hubby thinks they are like that because if all the rock we have in the garden. I think it's because we don't thin them out. Maybe we will next year. Barb in Pa.
yes waretrop, rocks and sometime too close together does that, we've found. more pics... fresh carrots... rows of garlic just planted... cavalry to the rescue to bust up a straw bale for mulch... busting up bale... broken up mulch...much easier to deal with... bringing up more mulch from below... disgruntled pete...cause hubs destroyed the bale he likes to sit on and watch others work... pete taking nap on the trailor, still pounting... pete helping dad...sitting on the boxes in the wheelbrrow... mulching the rows of garlic begins... more mulching...5 more rows to go... happy pete found another bale to rest on...
I love the coffee cup rack behind him????? Wow! I bought 120 ears of corn and canned them. I wish I would have known about this method of shucking corn last summer. Wonder if it would make the canned corn more cooked tasting???? Barb in Pa.
Hi Bunkie, that soil looks very good,..that's a lot of Garlic to plant,..i just had Carolyn plant hers of late,..and a vast amount with her as well. Your mulch wont take very long with that machine,..and Hubby as well,..oh and Pete the observer. --------------------------------------------------- Hi Waretrop, that guy must collect mugs,..its a huge rack,..oh i didn't get to test out the shucking corn tip myself,..i have not visited the people who grow the corn in my area this year,..i always get an armful of corn to take home.
